Holy shit. Kids are falling down trying to get a hold of Urban. By the time he gets off the phone he has made an impact. Ridiculous stuff is going on.

-Southward flips his commitment the night before Meyer is announced (surely some effect).-Jordan Diamond, a top OT prospect, was practically pleading for Meyer to call him via interviews. Meyer did, and tOSU will get an official visit from Diamond and I think they get him.-Noah Spence, the #2 DE prospect in the country who didn't even have tOSU listed in his schools now lists tOSU as his leader following a Meyer phone call.-Dante Fowler, the #1 DE prospect in the country and FSU commit, has said that he would be very interested in tOSU if Meyer called. Meyer was recruiting him hard while at UF, and he was apparently going to commit to UF until Meyer retired. Then he switched to FSU. Based on the story I read, I think the Bucks have a reasonable shot at him.-Joel Caleb, 4* WR, is now very interested in tOSU.

The team needs OL, particularly OTs, it will be interesting to see if Meyer can swing over one of the national big boys. If the Bucks can land a superstar LT he will start there next year. The only returning OT on the team is Norwell and he could and probably should be moved to RT.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Spence is ranked #4 by ESPN, #9 by Rivals, #15 by 247-all services list him as the #1 or #2 DE in the country.

Dante Fowler's rankings are similar.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

furls wrote: The only returning OT on the team is Norwell and he could and probably should be moved to RT.

Out of curiosity, why do you have Norwell pegged at RT? Not arguing, just wondering as I thought he played pretty well this year, and assumed they would slide him over to LT, as Tackle seems more of a natural fit for him.

Does Urban rescind any offers ey0? I didn't sense massive excitement over the crop, but I am guessing you could burn a few bridges by doing that. Most will see it, as SOP for a new HMFIC but if you cut a kid from a pipeline school you run the risk of souring that relationship.

Just finished this discussion with someone else, but what I think will be most interesting is the next 3 years in regards to hindsight judgment of the JT era. We should get a pretty good idea of the state of football at OSU on the field in the past decade. Whether it was pure talent carrying the coaching (or most of the coaches), just how much one man's decisions impacted the end results each year, or some combo of both to ultimately lead us to a conclusion we really didn't want to face up to all this time. We'll know sooner than later just how good things could have been is my gut feeling (not complaining about our run mind you).

Our first glimpse of this "truth" should obviously be recruiting.

Criminals in this town used to believe in things...honor, respect."I heard your dog is sick, so bought you this shovel"

I don't think Norwell is athletic enough, or has the feet to be the LT. I think he can be a good/great tackle, but I don't think he is an elite LT. I think he would be serviceable as an LT, but he is not Mike Adams and Mike Adams is not Orlando Pace.

I think Norwell is better on the strong side against elite pass rushers.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Meyer will not rescind an offer in Ohio that would be suicide. The OHSAA coaches talk, so if you burn bridges at Pickerington you better believe coaches at Dublin, Davidson etc. will hear about it. Granted Dublin and Davidson don't have tOSU kids this year, but who knows who they will have three years from now.

This is why I hated the Pat Eflin and Luke Roberts offers. They were bad choices. There is a reason their offer lists displayed only MAC Teams and B1G bottom feeders.

As for the offers, Meyer is going to bring in some guys that we never even thought we could get. It is official that Dante Fowler is coming for an official now, FSU recruitniks are nervous. There is smoke.

If I was Meyer I would pull every offer to every non committed kid and then reevaluate and reoffer. I am not sure if he has done that, but it would ethical.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

I also think he missed out on "closing" a ton of huge recruits that came down to signing day because of his passivity.

Urban is not going to miss out on kids like that.

But the upgrade from very very good under JT to elite under Urban doesn't mean JT couldn't recruit.

One could claim though that passivity was more honesty. And that Urban's agressiveness was more intrepretive as deceitful. One could claim that. (visit any UF rival message boards for the 6 yrs. he was on the prowl)

Still I agree with your point. I think part of being a great recruiter is being willing to push whatever buttons necessary to just "get a player in" and then letting competition sort things out. That's what Saban and Miles do. Just bring them in and let "survival of the fittest" run its course. Tressel was more apt to believing in one kid over getting multiples of the same player. Again, completely different style and philosophy of recruiting.

Personally, I prefer to fall somewhere in between because Urban's style can wear thin rather quickly but there is no question he pulls in more fish.

Playing here is the closest thing to heaven. Really, I mean it's amazing to be in a place where the fans truly cherish their football team and stick behind them win or lose. We players love them, too. I feel a sense of accomplishment playing here, we are a special breed of football players with a great opportunity." ~ tOSU LB Brian Rolle

I also think he missed out on "closing" a ton of huge recruits that came down to signing day because of his passivity.

Urban is not going to miss out on kids like that.

But the upgrade from very very good under JT to elite under Urban doesn't mean JT couldn't recruit.

People who have been around here a while have heard my theory before...that Tressel finished second a lot with the national recruits in part because he was easier to say "no" to than some of the other guys. They knew he wasn't going to go crazy and push and push and promise and tell them what they wanted to hear. He was more willing to take "no" for an answer. Passivity is a good way of putting it.

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken

furls wrote:Meyer will not rescind an offer in Ohio that would be suicide. The OHSAA coaches talk, so if you burn bridges at Pickerington you better believe coaches at Dublin, Davidson etc. will hear about it. Granted Dublin and Davidson don't have tOSU kids this year, but who knows who they will have three years from now.

This is why I hated the Pat Eflin and Luke Roberts offers. They were bad choices. There is a reason their offer lists displayed only MAC Teams and B1G bottom feeders.

As for the offers, Meyer is going to bring in some guys that we never even thought we could get. It is official that Dante Fowler is coming for an official now, FSU recruitniks are nervous. There is smoke.

If I was Meyer I would pull every offer to every non committed kid and then reevaluate and reoffer. I am not sure if he has done that, but it would ethical.

Agreed, pulling offers from committed kids is suicide. I think Charlie Strong did it to an ohio kid at Louiville REAL REAL late....I think from Colerain I read.

Louisville is no longer allowed to recruit kids from their school.

I agree that there is absolutely nothing wrong with telling uncommitted kids thier offer is no longer valid, or is being reevaluated. This is December basically, if you didnt commit thats your problem, no one to blame at this point but yourself.

Those bad offers are partially a result of the situation OSU has been in. Brutal to recruit this year. Fickell did an exceptional job holding onto the good players he had.

Holding on to Fickell is not only good for OSU but genius from Meyers standpoint. Allows him to immediately know status of recruits and retains the best recruiter at Ohio State.

Urban is relentless.

Last edited by JCoz on Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

motherscratcher wrote:How many more scholies does he have to work with?

And, can we send out guys incognito to hand Eflin and Roberts et al large envelopes with Pitt or IU on them?

I thought those were terrible offers at the time and now we are going to pay the price for them. No way we send them away, closest Meyer can do is sit them both down, face-to-face, and tell them that he doesnt think they will fit his system and that if they really want PT to look elsewhere, but he will honor the scholarship.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

However, there are some people who think Roberts could see the field at OSU, and maybe even be a solid contributor. (One of them is not me, because I have seen nothing of the kid, even on film). I won't start throwing around comparisons to Hawk or anyone else, just will say that some observers I trust like his intangibles and instincts, his solid tackling technique, and think the body can put on weight and muscle and fill out nicely. Right now, what stud MLB on this roster will keep him on the bench for four years, no questions asked?

One freshman to watch for next year (the Bradley Roby of 2012?) is CB Najee Murray. They had to stop the Stuebenville playoff game last week three times to attend to opposing players that had been hit by Murray. He's been shooting up the scouts' charts this season. Another "camp offer" by JT.

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken

I tend to think that maybe Curtis Grant will keep him on the bench for a while. Then I hope Grant's replacement from the 2013 class keeps him there. I have seen some film on him, he is stiff and slow. He is Storm Klein redux. I hope I eat crow on Roberts, but I don't think I will.

Now, Najee Murray!!!! Holy shit. If you watch the first 5 plays of this youtube you will see all you need to about him. He is Mike Doss.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Stafon Diggs (#2 WR in country, #8 player overall) interested in tOSU after phone call from Meyer. Not sure if they are going to get him in for an official. Previously had no interest.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Article in the Canton Repository today about Meyer getting Canton McKinley DE Se'Von Pittman (#8 DE in country) to take a visit at tOSU as well. He is verbally committed to Michigan State, his coach says still solidly, but since Meyer was announced he decided to take a visit.

Article also states that Meyer is still definitely interested in GlenOak RB Bri'onte Dunn (#10 nationally) who'd already committed to the Bucks in April. So sounds like he'll definitely keep him.

I think from an article today I'd say Spence is a done deal, meaning we probably will bring in the very best two pass rushing end in the country. I don't even know if Meyer wants Pittman, they have not been in contact yet, and frankly, I'd pass on him if we lock up spence. We have needs at LBer and some good interest from a few who may fit the bill.

Spence and Diamond are IMO taking two of those. Meyer wants Bam Bradley bad and I think he gets him. From there Caleb, Jones, Diggs, Fowler, Marcus, Pittman, Kozan, Davidson.... and everyone else with interest or an offer will be vying for those last 3-4 spots.

Last edited by JCoz on Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

e0y2e3 wrote:Uhm, I've seen the same indications we may have Spence, but everything I have seen has shown continued contact with Pittman and a fully anticipated commitment once he visits.

I have not read anywhere that has said Meyer has contacted Pittman. From what I gathered, communication has ceased.

He isn't scheduled to visit OSU, so unless that happens I will continue to think that is dead.

I agree that if he visits he'll flip. Also agree that this was being worked on. But as far as I know that has sputtered with Meyer so far, as has the recruitment of Kozan and Davidson. Doesn't mean that its dead for good or they dont have offers neccessarily, but given Meyers torid pace with recruiting, it's notable that certain prospects have not been contacted.

I haven't seen anything about Pittman coming to tOSU. I have read that if he officials to tOSU we will likely land him, but I have not heard about Meyer or his staff contacting Pittman. If the Buckeyes land Spence, I don't want Pittman.

I think Pittman is a hell of a prospect, but how many DEs do we need? Last year we took a lot of DL last year: Miller, Hayes, Bennett, Farris and Hale. This year we have Washington and Spence, and it is likely that Josh Perry outgrows (or already has outgrown) his LB position. Perry is now pushing 6'5" 240lbs with the frame for another 20-30 lbs easy. Throw in the fact that Meyer is in hot pursuit of Dante Fowler, and well, all of a sudden depth at DE seems to actually be inhibiting depth elsewhere.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

JCoz wrote:Of course as soon as I post that I read the BN BH for today and it says they've heard Fickel visited Pittman Sunday, and that MAYBE he could be visiting this weekend which would be done deal.

I guess Pittman hasn't been speaking to the media so that is why we haven't heard anything about Meyer talking to him.

Hmmm.... interesting. I still don't want him because I am not sure what we would do with him. I don't think he plays LB at tOSU and I am not sure he sees the field unless Hayes, Miller, Washington, Spence, (possibly Fowler) all bust. That doesn't even account for any DEs that tOSU brings in next year.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

So even by moving all the big bodies inward (Farris and Bennett) tOSU would still have 8 DEs with at least 3 years of eligibility at the beginning of next season if they were able to land Pittman and Fowler. Don't get me wrong, I love depth, but that is a bit much. Pittman is a good player and would be a great addition to this team in most years, but this year he would just be taking up a scholarship that is desperately needed on the OL or LB positions. If it was my show, I would pull Pittman's offer, continue to recruit Fowler (special player that you take no matter what), and be perfectly content with "just" getting Washington, Perry and Spence if that is all we get.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

e0y2e3 wrote:Meyer and Fickel have been targeting him for a visit and flip since the day Urban came on. Just sayin'

Bill Greene has been all over this.

He's been targeted to flip LONG before Meyer was hired. As soon as the news broke that we weren't looking at major sanctions he was considered a guy who would most likely flip by the end of the year. Thats been the going sentiment for months now. Nothing to do with Meyer being hired.

Now Greene may have been able to nail down Pittman to confirm he's been talking to Meyer and Fickel in the last 10 days, so that was news to me.

furls wrote:I haven't seen anything about Pittman coming to tOSU. I have read that if he officials to tOSU we will likely land him, but I have not heard about Meyer or his staff contacting Pittman. If the Buckeyes land Spence, I don't want Pittman.

I think Pittman is a hell of a prospect, but how many DEs do we need? Last year we took a lot of DL last year: Miller, Hayes, Bennett, Farris and Hale. This year we have Washington and Spence, and it is likely that Josh Perry outgrows (or already has outgrown) his LB position. Perry is now pushing 6'5" 240lbs with the frame for another 20-30 lbs easy. Throw in the fact that Meyer is in hot pursuit of Dante Fowler, and well, all of a sudden depth at DE seems to actually be inhibiting depth elsewhere.

All those DE's and none could help us rush the Passer this year. Thats a big list with how many weakside DE's? Just a couple. Williams and Miller.

Agree for the most part though, with Spence it seems superfluous, but Pittman is still a top tier get at WDE, and though there is next year, a bird in the hand.... Can't say I'd turn him down, I just wouldn't have pushed for the visit so quickly with Spence committing a month before signing day.

As for Pittman, I get that he is a rivals 100 and that all these other guys couldn't get to the QB, but tOSU only has about 7 (max) scholarships left and only one (maybe 2) OL in the class. Both of those OLs are pretty big reaches at their current positions. Boren is just too small and Elflein was a big time reach for a program like tOSU.

The Buckeyes NEED to get some OL in this class, at least 3 more (Diamond, Davidson and Kozan?). They also need at least one LB, name I keep seeing is Jamal Marcus. His highlight film is ridiculous.

Right now I think it is likely that we end up with a class that ends up like this:

CalebSpenceDiamondDavidsonKozan

Leaving 2 more spots, one of those has to be a LB. Is Pittman worth the last spot? I don't know, there are lots of other options out there at positions of greater need. Again, he is a great prospect and if we could do this "SEC Style" and cut people.... I would cut Fellows and Moore to make the space for him.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

According to BN, Meyer has not contacted Dodson. Now that said, I think if Meyer reaches out to Dodson he may get him, but I am not sure that he will. It is kind of telling that in all the work Meyer has put in, that none of it has gone towards Dodson (or Kozan for that matter). I would love to see tOSU finish with Dodson, Diamond and Davidson, throwing in Kozan might actually undue last year's putrid OL class.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.